NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen (D) joined Nicholas Quallich for episode 26 of The Voice of the People. Christiansen discussed why she's running a second time for a seat in the U.S. Senate, what her first priority would be if elected, why people tell her she doesn't sound like a Democrat when speaking with her, and more. Here is a transcription of the podcast. Nicholas Quallich: Thanks for watching the Voice of the People podcast here on KXNET.com. I'm Nicholas Quallich and today we are talking with the Democratic candidate for Senate for North Dakota and that's Katrina Christiansen. Katrina, thanks so much for being here. Katrina Christiansen: Thank you, Nicholas. I'm glad to be here. Quallich: So for those people who may have not got to meet you in person yet, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Christiansen: Sure, absolutely. I am from Jamestown, North Dakota. I live here with my husband Max and our three kiddos. We have a 16, 13, and 8-year-old. So my days are busy, even though I'm not campaigning or when I'm not campaigning. So I'm an agricultural engineer and I'm currently on unpaid leave from the University of Jamestown. I used to work for Cargill Malt. For those from the University of Jamestown. I used to work for Cargill Malt, for those people who remember driving by the molting facility on 94 by Spiritwood. I worked for a startup in Fargo designing equipment. I have three patents and worked as a plant engineer as well for an ethanol company back in Nebraska. So I have lots of industry experience. I'm an educator and a mother. So I have a lived experience that I can take to Washington, D.C. Quallich: What got you interested in agriculture? Christiansen: I am actually from a small town, 1200 people. My dad and his brother had a farm and they had to sell it back in the 80s. And I didn't really know that I wanted to be in agriculture until I was, I mean, I was in FFA and I really enjoyed participating in all the sorts of events that we had. But when I went to the university, I just really fell in love with the idea of working on value-added processing for technologies and opportunities to bring back to small rural communities, like the one I grew up in, to offer more economic opportunity. And so, that's really, I just got really interested in it and the more I learned, the more interest I gained. And so, even still on the trail, when I can talk to somebody about agriculture, I'm pretty happy. Quallich: Right. And I should point out, you have your doctorate, correct? Christiansen: Yes. I have my Ph.D. from Iowa State. I got that in 2011. And so, and that was looking at different crops and converting them into fuels. If you remember back in 2008, we had quite the conversation about bio-renewables and crops for fuels. It's a little different now, but I learned a lot from that. So I have a little bit of experience in energy, too. Quallich: And you have also a little bit of experience running for office. This is your second go-around. Last time you faced off against Senator John Hoeven and now it's against Senator Kevin Cramer. And we'll get to that in just a second. But tell me about the first time someone had brought up the idea or you had thought about getting involved in politics. Christiansen: So, I got into politics in 2022 because I was really frustrated with our representation. I mean, actually, we're almost in the same situation that caused me to run the first time. We're approaching a government shutdown. You know, we pay and elect these officials under the guise that they will operate the government. And I remember back in 2021, I made up a little Excel sheet about what it would cost the state of North Dakota if we did not, if the government shut down and people that depend on Social Security, our veterans, our active military, our federal employee workforce did not have their payments coming in. And it was a huge number. And the reality is the senators take an oath of office to fulfill the role that they have, which is keeping the government running. And the fact that we play chicken every six to three to nine months is laughable. And it's really sad that that's, that's essentially what we have out of our elected politicians. And that's why I got in. I can do better than this. I can get a patent in nine months. And so that's what has fueled me. I learned a lot the first time, and one should. And we've tried to fix all of the mistakes that we made in 22. I got in early. I have a very strong campaign team around me. I have out-fundraised my opponent two reporting periods in a row, and 95% of races are run by the person that raises more money. And so that's not what it's all about, but it certainly helps you get your message out there. And we've been able to do that this time around. Quallich: One of the things that you talk about on your website is you are pro-term limits. Is that correct? Christiansen: I am. In fact, I voted back when we had our legislative vote for term limits. Yes, I do. I was researching, doing some research for an event that I'm doing this weekend. There's a Teddy Roosevelt quote that I had come across. He was really bitter at the end of his And he said, you know, good people go into politics and become crooks and really good people become impractical cranks. And so I do I kind of, you know, subscribe to that belief. And I would only serve two terms. I think you need to base your decisions on what's best for the people of North Dakota. And I'm free of needing this as a career. I have tons of skills, and I just want to see our communities thrive. Quallich: Now you say that, but at the same time, voters have kept, again, I know you're not running against him, but they've kept Senator Hoeven in office since 2011. Christiansen: Yeah, yeah. I mean, what has he done? There's a Farm Bill. He's on the Ag Committee. We haven't had a new farm bill since 2018. We have farmers that are dealing with really high interest rate on their operating costs. We have really low grain prices right now. Argentina is buying our soybeans because they're so cheap and they can export them and make money off of it. It is ridiculous that we have these career politicians in office and they're able to stay in because of our broken system. And you know, I'm a challenger. I'm going to be vocal about the fact that, you know, my opponent, his record, the one bill that he has sponsored that has gotten across the president's desk is renaming a building in Fargo. Yes, he can co-sponsor. Yes, he puts his names on letters, but that's all just messaging. It's not actually accomplishing things. And so, and this is something that I've learned this, you know, I've been campaigning now for 351 days for this race and learning these things, seeing, oh, well, that's really problematic. This adds to our broken system of governance, that they're not really held accountable. And, you know, some people might fault the voters. I'm faulting the system. Quallich: You mentioned problematic and I just want to step away from what we're talking about for just a moment, because you are the first candidate that I've spoken to since now the second assassination attempt of former President Trump. Tell me about what you thought when you heard about that and sort of what went through your mind as far as regarding the state of politics as you get ready to kind of wrap things up here in this particular race. Christiansen: So, with the first one, I was actually, I'd been campaigning, I'd been at a county fair, and then I stopped in L'amour to visit with people, just kind of get their pulse of how things were going in their lives and I left that meeting and I got out to my car and I saw that it happened. And I was really grateful that he wasn't hurt, but somebody did die. And that's really sad, an individual that had a family and died protecting their family. You know, this young man that perpetrated that crime had access to a gun, had access to ammunition. Obviously, there are things that we can do to kind of reduce that hazard. There are a lot of people that have mental I believe David Frum shared the fact that 82 people have died in mass shootings since, in the time between the assassination attempts on President Trump. Those lives are no less important than President Trump's. And that is, you know, we need to address gun violence in our society, whether it's at political people or innocent people that just are in their school doing their thing and don't expect to get killed at their job. And so I think it's part of a broader conversation we need to deal with. And we know what the solutions are. Background checks. Gunlock regulation. Red flag laws. We know what they are. There's just not the appetite to do it because it goes back to the conversation about career politicians. The NRA will take them out. And, you know, some people aren't willing, aren't willing to give this, this up. And so they won't do the right thing because to them, it's just a game. Quallich: I want to go back down to you specifically on your website. It says you are a North Dakota Democrat, bold, courageous, and independent. Why do you consider yourself bold, courageous, and independent? Christiansen: Well, I think I'm bold. I mean, if you meet me, I think you get a sense that I am not a dull individual. I'm bold in the fact that I'm, you know, I tell the story, I was in Michigan City, North Dakota, you know, it's just Michigan by most people's names or that call it that. But, I had somebody who I met, I was telling them I was running for Senate, and he said, well, why don't you run for DPI? And I said, because I'm not a career politician. The reality is that Congress has abdicated its duty so many times in the last 20 years, in my entire adulthood, I feel like, of regulating things. And so, you know, why serve on a school board where you have no control over the budget? Why go to the legislature where they are only interested in enriching themselves? All you need to do is look at the pipeline or measure two or what have it, right? It's not actually about improving the lives of North Dakotans, but the federal law, it's a big impact. And so that's, I'm an engineer. I think about where I can have the most impact and I'm going to do that. And so that's the bold part. The courageous part is I'm a Democrat, right? I can't hear, I can't count how many times I've heard, oh, North Dakota is a red state, Why are you running as a Democrat? You'll never get elected. This seat was held by a Democrat for nearly 60 years. We used to have three federally elected Democrats, you know, and one of the things that has compounded the career politician ruining our system of governance is the nationalization of politics. The assumption that Democrats are the same everywhere and they're just awful. You know, I can't tell you how many times I hear people say, well, you don't sound like a Democrat. And that's because of prejudice through the nationalization of our politics. And I'm independent because I'm willing to criticize whoever I want. I don't care about party allegiance. I identify as a Democrat because I believe that government can be part of the solution. Christiansen: But I'm an engineer, so I also believe that there are market-based solutions. And so, you know, I criticized the USDA Secretary this weekend for failing to deliver food to tribes across the country in a timely manner. You know, they want to blame the supplier. I want to blame the person that's responsible for the solution, so I don't have that problem. So those are my points. My dog, yeah, Jack just came in and he's 11 and he just, he has to take six turns before I'll sit down, I apologize. Quallich: A couple episodes ago, I had a flight delay and so I was shooting this from Ohio and my cat walked in and I thought, oh no, I could hear my cat meowing in Ohio. But anyway, so it should also be noted though that if you do defeat your incumbent opponent, you would be the first female senator and Democratic senator since the last female Democratic senator, that's Heidi Heitkamp, who was defeated by the person you're running against, Senator Kevin Cramer. Christiansen: Yep. But I think that, well, I mean, I guess if you, if there's more question there, because I have thoughts on that, I would, you know, but if there's more there, I just, I don't think he won on merit. In the last 12 years, he really doesn't have a record to run on. What he has to run on is the fact that he's a Republican. He supports, he supported the president in 2018. The president came to North Dakota three times. Don (Trump) Jr. came as well. He hasn't really done much. I think he's been asked, why haven't you accomplished more? And I believe he said, because it's hard. And I just, that to me sounds, I cannot believe that an adult in an elected position in the United States of America gets away with saying that and could potentially be reelected. It's hard. I have done so many things that are hard in my life. I don't have time to talk about them, right? Most of us don't. Most of us just have to move on to the next hard thing. I'm a much better candidate than Senator Kevin Cramer in 2018 and in 2024. Quallich: So if you do get elected, Katrina, what would be the first issue you would tackle in our nation's capital? Christiansen: Well, thank you for asking that, Nicholas, because it's the country of origin labeling. Actually, my opponent voted to repeal it back in, I think it was 2016. And so country of origin labeling on beef and pork is not allowed for producers that make our beef and pork here in the United States of America because of a World Trade Organization lawsuit. But the reality is since 2015, the price of beef that consumers pay and the price that our producers get for their cattle has been completely decoupled. And it allows all these imports that come in and then they get labeled USDA inspected. And most people don't know that that doesn't mean that it wasn't produced here in the United States of America. And as a result, North Dakota produces 3% of the United States beef supply. It's the 10th largest producer of beef in the United States. And I actually did the calculations this week. I looked at the average price of beef over the last 10 years, including 2015, when they had the country of origin labeling, or 2014. And then I adjusted it for inflation if country of origin had still been in place, compared to the real prices, which it didn't have. And then I averaged the average loss, right? So it was about $38 per head of cattle. So for a rancher or producer that has about 200 or 250, that's like $7,000 to $8,000 of lost equity every year, or about 80 grand over a decade. That's a lot. And if you look at the state of North Dakota, that's $40 million per year in lost equity. So if I went to an economic development corporation anywhere in North Dakota, and I said, I can get you $40 million just by reinstating country of origin labeling. I think they'd do it. And so that's why it's really important from an economic point of view, it's important for our producers, but it's ultimately about food security and national security. We've all survived the pandemic and we all saw what supply chain crunches did to our lives. And we don't want to lose our ability to produce food. And so we need to make sure that we protect our producers from unfair practices and imports and make sure that they have their fair share so that when the next crisis like the pandemic, I hope it doesn't happen, but it might happens, we have that food security, which gives us national security. So I'm really, I knew this in June when I went to DC for the first time. I was like, these guys don't get it. This is important. And yeah, that's the first bucket of water I'm going to carry for the state of North Dakota. Quallich: You mentioned earlier, you talk about your passion about innovation and solving problems. Of course, you know, one of the goals of the Biden administration right now is to get things carbon free by 2035. That's their goal, especially driving on the roads. The Department of Energy says right now here in North Dakota there's 106, only 106 electric car chargers. And obviously there aren't as many cars that run on electric vehicle charge. So is that something that you think could be done? And if not, how do you think and how would you support that getting done if they still want to hit that goal. Christiansen: So I actually think that this is an area where the market is supposed to drive the innovation. So, I mean, just, I don't know if you're on your cell phone right now, I'm on my desktop, right? But I always think about what our lives were like before we had cell phones. It's really hard to imagine. It's incredibly disruptive technology. Did the government have any involvement in it? Not really. I mean, yeah, they probably did some R&D stuff, the componentry, you know, you could go way, way back when we were working on stuff like NASA and World War II where we see technologies being born and then senesced, right? And so I just, that to me is a market-based, you can't control that market. Consumers control that market. And so we need to invest in infrastructure all the time. That's what the government's there to do. But in terms of the adoption of electric vehicles or other sorts of cars, this is really up to the consumer. I think, you know, when you look at the car market, that's actually one of the healthiest, most competitive markets in the United States. When you look at the inflationary pressures versus the innovation pressures, right? Cars are, I mean, it's just so competitive for consumers. It's really great for them. They have lots of options and manufacturers have to keep innovating and we let the consumers decide that. Quallich: And you talked about the economy, of course, you know, we all pay taxes. With that in mind, on your website, you are a big proponent of making the rich pay their fair share. Yes. But at the same time, and again, this is sort of what you mentioned earlier, talking about what people identify with, the current administration has tried several times to get millions upon millions of dollars of student loan debt dismissed. Obviously, somehow that needs to be paid. So, how do you sort of reconcile those two, that desire and what's already happened? Christiansen: So I don't think that – so let me be clear here. Elon Musk is done paying for his taxes on, like, January 1, you know, many of the other ultra billionaires, right, they live their lives on their capital gains or borrowing based on their assets. And so it's just a completely different game than what you and I, I presume, you and I experience. And so, you know, I want the middle class to get a tax cut. tax cuts expire, the wealthy, the ultra wealthy, the top 5 to 2 to 1 percent will continue to benefit from the Trump tax cuts. But actually, the middle class and the working class will actually be net negative when it comes to 2027. We'll have actually had to pay more in. And so, we need to rectify that because 95 percent of North Dakotans are in those two groups. And so, but they don't have voices in Congress, right? That's, that's why you don't see middle class and working class tax cuts. They don't have a conduit, right? The rich do. And so we need to rectify that. When it comes to the student loan forgiveness. This is another example of Congress really failing and the executive branch trying to make up for it? Why haven't we reformed the cost of higher ed. or what Pell Grants or student loans look like from a federal level? The answer is Congress hasn't done anything. Christiansen: And so here's, you know, the president, they're trying their best. They're not going to get it through the courts. I mean, they can keep trying, but the courts seem pretty determined to not allow that to happen. And I think, you know, it's just this really lays at the feet of Congress. They can't keep the government open, let alone resolve, you know, the cost that it is to go to college. We are lost in this conversation. And we need to be reminded that Congress has the ability to pass legislation to lower the cost of higher ed. They could offer scholarships. They could change those Pell Grant rates. They could do a whole bunch of things, but they don't because they don't need to. They can just get reelected, have lunch, go on fancy trips. So I would remind your listeners that who's really to blame here? It's not the executive branch. The judicial branch has no interest in helping the public. And Congress isn't held accountable until we hold them accountable. Quallich: But I would say at the same time, that was one of the President's, that is President Biden, his campaign goals when he first ran was to help eliminate student debt. Christiansen: I think it's a noble goal. But I really, he, you know, he can't right now because he doesn't have the house. But he got a lot done. He just wasn't able to get through reform. I think one thing that, you know, I know a lot of people get upset about the student loan thing because I paid off my loans. I paid off my loans. My husband paid off his loans. But it's the problem is the interest. Right. Some people, because of their situation, end up never paying off the principal. They are in they have student loans in perpetuity. Right. And those are the people that President Biden is trying to help. These aren't the people who are waiting. Oh, are they going to give us debt relief?I'm going to go to school now. It's not like that. It's like I mean, I can think of this person that was a reporter for WNYC, and she was talking about her student loans, and like they just kept getting bigger and bigger. And that's what the problem that Biden's trying to address, though you really do need to go through Congress. Quallich: I know we're running up against the clock here. I can't believe it's already been a half hour, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention at least where things are, at least as it relates to North Dakota when it comes to women's health care As you know that was struck down We're taping this on Thursday, and this is going to air Monday that was struck down by Judge Bruce Romanik, at least the North Dakota law last week. Your thoughts on that? Christiansen: It's probably a temporary. I mean he's right, but it's probably just temporary and so we can breathe a little sigh of relief. You know, I think the thing that's really notable is the day after that, Decision ProPublica, I believe, had the story about one of the first women to die as a result of Georgia's six-week ban, which is very similar to North Dakota's. She was denied life-preserving care after 20 hours, and then it was too late and she died. And so the reality is that these bans are harmful from a public health point of view. And I think the judge saw that and that, you know, in North Dakota, maybe women have some rights, maybe right to healthcare. And I know women that have miscarried. I've miscarried, I didn't need treatment, but it was certainly really scary when it was happening. I can't imagine going to the hospital and being denied care. When would that happen for a man? It wouldn't. And I like the idea that like, if my child, like this woman in Georgia, if you read the ProPublica story, she has a six-year-old, he's now an orphan. And her last words to her mother were to take care of her son. Like, you know, the reality is these bans that have been implemented are really poorly written laws. And there's a lot of ambiguity. A lot of health care providers are scared to provide care. And as a result, you see people dying. I mean, we knew it would happen. Everybody thought it was hyperbolic to say that. But now it's happened. And there's a six-year-old without a mom and a woman without her daughter. And it's quite frankly scary, right? And so I'm really glad the judge overruled, you know, overturned the law, but I know the legislature here is going to come in and try to pass another ban or Wrigley is going to take it to the Supreme Court. It's probably good that he's not that good at his job, but it doesn't help me sleep at night. Quallich: And finally, Katrina, we've got about a minute here now. Why don't you tell voters why you believe they should vote for you this November? Christiansen: So, thank you, Nicholas. I think what I've learned over the last 351 days campaigning is that it's just important, just as important to listen, to learn to listen as it is to fight. And that the fight isn't red versus blue. It's not liberal versus conservative. It's not Democrat versus Republican. But the fight is actually about protecting people who don't have armor, right? Like that woman in Georgia, Nicole. Or the ranchers that don't have a farm bill that represents the current market. There are kids that need protection in school from gun violence. And there are senior citizens that need Social Security to be solvent. And so if they want somebody who's not in this to play games and sees that it's about learning, it's about listening, and it's about fighting to protect them, then they should vote for me on November 5th. And I'm going to be term limited out, so they won't have to hear my voice too long. Quallich: Well, Katrina Christensen, I thank you so much for your time. Thank you for talking about the issues that matter to you. And of course, we may see you sooner than later, obviously, depending upon how North Dakota votes come this November. So, thanks again for your time. We deeply appreciate it. And thank you for watching the Voice of the People podcast here on KX.com. We'll be back soon with more on the questions and answers affecting you. Because remember, it's your voice that matters: The Voice of the People. Close Thanks for signing up! 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